two ha'pennies for a penny
Any money whatsoever.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I do not have two ha'pennies for a penny to my name.”
“The business is failing so badly that the owner does not have two ha'pennies for a penny to pay the staff.”
“After the market crash destroyed his entire fortune, the once wealthy investor found himself without two ha'pennies for a penny to buy a simple meal.”
The idiom describes an individual so destitute that they lack even the two halfpennies required to change another person's penny. It suggests a level of poverty where the basic mechanical exchange of currency is prevented by a total absence of liquidity.
- 01
a pound to a penny
Very likely; almost certainly.
- 02
bad penny
A person or thing which is unpleasant, disreputable, or otherwise unwanted, especially one which repeatedly appears at inopportune times.
- 03
beast with two backs
Two people united in sexual intercourse in the missionary position.
- 04
eat for two
To be pregnant
- 05
fall between two stools
To fit into neither of two categories and, hence, be neglected or fail.
- 06
feed two birds with one scone
Synonym of kill two birds with one stone.
- 07
for two pins
Readily, with only the slightest encouragement.
- 08
greater of two evils
The most harmful or unpleasant of two undesirable alternatives.
Last updated August 10, 2026